Fantasy Baseball Today - FBT Express - Jeremy Peña Replacements & Other Waiver Wire Adds! (7/1 Fantasy Baseball podcast)

Starting point is 00:00:00 Let's talk Jeremy Pena replacements and other waiver wire ads up next on Fantasy Baseball Today Express. Welcome in to FBT Express and welcome to July. We are here already. I am Frank Stample joined by Chris Towers and unfortunately we lost Jeremy Pena who went on the IL with a fractured rib. Chris, how would you rank these replacements? Xavier Edwards, Trevor Story, Ceydon Raphaela and Otto Lopez. I think it probably depends on what format you're playing in. If it's categories, I'm okay playing the hot hand with Trevor Story because he's been,

Starting point is 00:00:36 he was very good in June. He was very good in April. It was mostly May that's dragging the overall numbers down. But when I look at Trevor Story and I see, you know, it's like a high 600s, low 700s OPS right now, decent power, decent speed, that's probably what he is. I think the batting average is always going to be harmful. So if you can't afford to take the batting average hit, I think it's worth looking at either of the Marlins guys, Xavier Edwards or Otto Lopez.

Starting point is 00:01:00 and really, I think the batting average probably tilts a little towards Xavier Edwards, but Otto Lopez is an underrated hitter, I think. He's tapped into a little more power this season. He's got a little bit of speed. The overall profile is pretty solid, but Xavier Edwards has a little more impact potential with batting average and stolen bases. So I'll give him the edge, but Lopez might be the choice in a points league. Yeah, I was leaning a similar route.

Starting point is 00:01:26 I think if you need steals in particular, Edwards makes sense. Trevor Story a little bit more well-rounded in terms of power and speed. Batting average will be bad. But Otto Lopez in a points league in the month of June hitting 301 with four homers, 17 runs, 22 RBI, four steals, 8, 12 OPS. So he has been great and hopefully he can carry that over into July as well. Some names in slightly deeper leagues, Chris. Ernie Clement and Brooks Lee, do you have a preference between those two?

Starting point is 00:01:54 Clement's just easier to fit in a team. Like he's probably got a little more long-term values because he is eligible at every infield position except for catcher. So while we're just talking about shortstop replacements right now, you know, when Peña Pena comes back, Clements probably more likely to be useful for your team. So I'll go with him just because Brooks Lee is kind of just empty batting average. The quality of contact really doesn't support the possibility for much power there. So I think Clements just the better choice. And then a name in the.

Starting point is 00:02:27 deepest of leagues, Joey Ortiz in June hit 277, three homers, four steals, 748 OPS. He was dreadful before that, but there is a little bit of offensive upside here, a little power, a little speed, again, just a name for very deep leagues if you lost out on Jeremy Pena. What about the non-shortstop division? We spoke a lot about outfielders yesterday as part of, you know, Wyatt Langford replacements, but it is a plentiful position right now.

Starting point is 00:02:54 Austin Hayes, man, picking up right where he left all. off two for four with a triple and his seventh home run here on Monday. That one came off of Garrow Crochet. He's played 35 games this season, hitting 295 with a 904 OPS. 48% roster just seems quite low for Austin Hayes. Yeah, I think the problem is in points leagues, he strikes out a bit too much. He's like 25, 26% strike rate, walk rate is like 6%. So he's a pretty iffy option in a points league, especially because those tend to be shallower leagues. It's going to be hard for Austin Hayes to be one of the 36 best outfielders in a points league.

Starting point is 00:03:29 But in a roto league where most of them go five outfielders deep, you're talking about starting 60, I think he's a must roster player. And even in any categories leagues, I don't know if Austin Hayes is a top 36 outfielder rest of season in categories leagues, but certainly top 50 and I think pretty close to 40s. So you're talking about, okay, not a must start guy in those leagues, but a possible utility option,

Starting point is 00:03:55 especially if you're in those leagues with two utility spots, I think you probably just want Austin Hayes in there. So in points, not a must-roster player, although worth using. I think he's more like a 260 hitter, but I'm expecting a 25 homer pace from Austin Hayes the rest of the way. So, yeah, he's a very good hitter in most leagues. Let's take a quick break. When we return, we'll take a look at the WaverWire pitchers right after this.

Starting point is 00:04:21 Welcome back in the FBT Express. What about the WaverWire pitchers? Nelson had another great start on Monday night. This one against the giant six and two thirds innings, two runs with seven strikeouts, 15 whiffs on 88 pitches, 13 on the fastball. It is a pitch that he uses a lot. I don't really get it, Chris, but we're going on like a full calendar year of Ryan Nelson being pretty good. If you picked him up for the two-star week, he might just be someone you hold on to. Yeah, I mean, you break down the arsenal for Ryan Nelson and fastball is awesome.

Starting point is 00:04:58 And the fastball is awesome. And then he throws like five pitches, but in this one it was 70% fastball since the started last season. He's thrown like 57% fastballs, which is the highest mark in baseball among starters. It's a really good pitch. He throws from a high arm angle. He gets behind the ball. He gets a lot of spin.

Starting point is 00:05:18 It gets good induced vertical break. It is a legitimately very good pitch. But he got. 13 whiffs with it today, 34% whiff rate. He's usually more in the 20% with the 4 Seamer and he just doesn't have the rest of the arsenal to back it up. So I think in the long run Ryan Nelson it's probably going to be more like a high threes low fours ERA. He doesn't really get a ton of strikeouts generally. I kind of view him like Jacob Lopez where it does feel like they're getting away

Starting point is 00:05:51 with something to a certain extent. And that's not to take all that much away from them because you've still got to execute. You've still got to get major league hitters out. And Ryan Nelson executed flawlessly today. It was all mid-strike zone or higher with the four-seamer. He did exactly what you want to do with that pitch. It's just it's not an approach that I think is especially likely to work for a whole season. So Nelson is a streamer who gets the Royals in his next start.

Starting point is 00:06:22 I definitely want him in there if I'm playing in a daily league. Would you rather add Ryan Nelson or Quinn Priester who had an 11 strikeout outing this past weekend? That's interesting. Priester, I think he's got like a new cutter grip that he's been throwing a lot more. I think I have more faith in Nelson than Priester. Although I do like Priester.

Starting point is 00:06:46 Might just be, I like Nelson in the immediate future, but Priester might have a little more long-term upside because I do think at some point Nelson's going to get figured out. We got another solid start here from Trevor Rogers. He had 16 whiffs on Monday on 91 pitches. 14 of those on the fastball. Not completely buying that, but his velocity is up this season.

Starting point is 00:07:08 He's made four starts with a 205 ERA and a 0.86 whip. Chris, are you buying Trevor Rogers at all? Blame it on the Rangers. That's what I said. This is one of the worst offenses baseball right now. When Trevor Rogers was good back in 2021, he did it with a really good fastball. I think his four-seamer had like a 26% whiff rate. That's a very good mark.

Starting point is 00:07:33 The problem is he was averaging 94.5 miles per hour with his four-seamer. And this one, I think it was down to 93.1. And he somehow got 14 whiffs. I think that tells you something about the Rangers lineup more than it does about Trevor Rogers, especially because when Trevor Rogers had that really good fastball, he also had a really good changeup back in 2021. And that changeup just hasn't been very good this season. It had an 18% whiff rate coming into this one.

Starting point is 00:07:59 He only had two whiffs on it on Monday. I think it's great that Trevor Rogers looks like a major league pitcher again because it's been a couple of years since you could say that. And that's really important for the Orioles, both for the rest of this season and for their chances of, you know, building a contender in the next couple years. I don't think he really matters for fantasy, though. I do have a speculative relief pitcher ad that I wanted to mention here

Starting point is 00:08:26 with Robert Torres struggling mightily in June, 784 ERA 174 whip. Jason Adam has just been as reliable as relievers, you know, as reliable as any reliever over the past, you know, a handful of years. He's having another strong season. I haven't seen anything that the Padres are going to go in a different direction, but at some point they need to lock down the best. back end of this bullpen. So Jason, Adam, widely available, someone that you can speculate on

Starting point is 00:08:51 if you are in need of saves. For more extensive fantasy baseball coverage, listen to our full-length podcast, Fantasy Baseball Today on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or anywhere else podcasts are found. Thanks for listening to Fantasy Baseball Today Express, and we will be back again on Thursday. Bye-bye.

Fantasy Baseball Today - FBT Express - Jeremy Peña Replacements & Other Waiver Wire Adds! (7/1 Fantasy Baseball podcast)

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